Intergenerational Earnings Persistence Across Ethnicities

Maré, David () and Omoniyi Alimi ()
Additional contact information
Maré, David: Motu Economic and Public Policy Research Trust
Omoniyi Alimi: University of Waikato and World Bank

No 18422, IZA Discussion Papers from IZA Network @ LISER

Abstract: We estimate intergenerational earnings persistence for 6 ethnic groups using linked administrative data for approximately 288,000 individuals in New Zealand born between 1986 and 1992. Linking data from administrative datasets, censuses, and surveys, we focus on 198,000 parent-child pairs actively participating in the labour market. Our preferred IV rankrank slope which adjusts for earnings measurement error is 0.27, suggesting that children inherit roughly one-quarter of parental earnings advantage or disadvantage. We analyse relative and absolute persistence, variations by ethnicity and gender, and explore the role of observable characteristics. Finally, we discuss underlying factors influencing persistence, including the potential role of discrimination and racism in labour markets and broader society.

Keywords: intergenerational earnings persistence; ethnicity; Aotearoa New Zealand (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J15 J62 J70 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-03
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://docs.iza.org/dp18422.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18422

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in IZA Discussion Papers from IZA Network @ LISER Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Mark Fallak ().